Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.)
March 1, 2025
Daniel J Kruger, Jacob S Aday, Christopher W Fields et al.
19 citations
In an anonymous online survey of 1,221 people who reported past psychedelic use, most described adverse experiences: 74.3% felt frightened, 58.6% sadness, 54.3% body shaking or trembling, and 51.6% loneliness. About half reported some other adverse experience, and one in ten had adverse physical reactions. One-third knew someone arrested for possession or use of psychedelics; 8% reported that they or someone they know was the victim of inappropriate sexual contact by a psychedelic sitter, guide, or practitioner; and one-quarter knew someone who experienced a severe adverse event other than inappropriate sexual contact or arrest. The findings indicate that despite beneficial effects, psychedelic experiences can be challenging, distressing, or harmful, highlighting the need to prevent, identify, manage, and treat adverse events.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
May 1, 2025
Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S. Aday, E Harte, Steven et al.
After naturalistic psychedelic use, people with depression, PTSD, or anxiety reported reduced identification of their identity with their illness, as measured by the pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM). Among 297 individuals, the majority in each condition reported symptom improvement: 95.4% with depression, 98.36% with PTSD, and 94.87% with anxiety. PRISM scores significantly decreased after the most salient psychedelic experience, and larger reductions in self-condition enmeshment were associated with greater symptom improvement. The findings suggest PRISM can detect changes in self-perception across conditions, though limitations include retrospective reporting and unclear dosing.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
August 4, 2023
Kasey Cox, Cody Weston, Moss Herberholz et al.
A survey of 1,221 adults who use psychedelics found that most do so without clinical support. Only 22% disclosed their use to a primary care provider, while 58% told a psychiatric provider. Participants had less confidence in primary care providers' ability to integrate psychedelics into treatment. Common reasons for not disclosing included stigma, lack of provider knowledge, and legal concerns. 23% took psychedelics on the same day as potentially interacting psychiatric medications. Although 81% desired therapist support during experiences, only 15% had received it. The disconnection from clinical care may lead to safety issues such as inadequate screening, lack of support for adverse events, and drug interactions.
Deep Blue (University of Michigan)
January 1, 2023
Nicolas Glynos
DMT is a serotonergic psychedelic that produces rapid, short-lived alterations in consciousness and shows therapeutic potential. Although DMT occurs naturally in the mammalian brain and is considered a putative neurotransmitter, its biosynthesis and mechanisms remain poorly understood. In rat models, the study tested whether the enzyme INMT is necessary for DMT biosynthesis. INMT knockout rats still methylated tryptamine, and recombinant rat INMT was inactive with tryptamine, indicating an alternative biosynthetic pathway exists. Intravenous DMT in rats acutely increased serotonin and dopamine in the prefrontal and somatosensory cortices in a dose-dependent manner and altered EEG activity by reducing theta-band power and coherence while increasing gamma-band activity. These findings challenge a long-standing hypothesis about DMT biosynthesis and provide the most detailed characterization of DMT's neurochemical and neurophysiological effects in rodents.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2025
Jamarie Geller, Nicolas Glynos, Andrew Lemmen et al.
Trainees in medical and allied professions learn about psychedelics and related therapies mainly from social media and word-of-mouth, sources that do not improve their knowledge. Structured education is scarce, and overall psychedelic literacy is low, but those who participate in programming at their own institutions show greater knowledge. As psychedelic therapies become more available and research advances, academic training programs must include relevant material to prepare future professionals to educate and counsel patients.